MoMA's Young Architects Program Names HWKN for Winning Project

courtesy HWKN

Wendy by HWKN, Matthias Hollwich and Marc Kushner of New York, has been selected as the winning project in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and MoMA PS1’s annual Young Architects Program. Meeting criteria for innovative design that addresses environmental issues, including sustainability and recycling, the installation will be the featured urban landscape at the museum’s outdoor 2012 Warm Up Summer Music Series.

As per competition guidelines, the architects designed a structure that provides shade, seating and water for the PS1 outdoor courtyard in Long Island City, Queens. Spikey arms resembling star prongs create micro-environments with blasts of cool air in one section, music in another, water cannons and misting in yet another. In addition to meeting functional demands creatively, Wendy’s construction improves the environment in a literal sense. It’s nylon fabric is treated with a titania nanoparticle spray that neutralize airborne pollutants and will clean the air to the equivalent of taking 260 cars off the road throughout its temporary installation.

“By combining off-the-shelf materials and scaffolding systems with the latest cry in nanotechnology it is able to produce both an out-of-the-box ecological statement and a bold architectural gesture,” says Pedro Gadanho, curator in MoMA’s department of architecture and design. “It is economical and terse in terms of its design, and yet, through its positioning and scale, it also smartly projects different possibilities for use and social appropriation across the entire site where it sits—including the ability to reach out for those outside the museum’s walls.”

A 70x70x45-foot scaffold defines a large surface area that spills over the PS1 courtyard walls with volume that is sure to add to the east Manhattan skyline, in addition to enhancing the already colorful Long Island City scape.

To learn more about the Young Architects Program, visit MoMA.org/YAP.

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MoMA's Young Architects Program Names HWKN for Winning Project